Thyme Hill bidding to retain flawless record over hurdles in Challow

3.00 Newbury
Betway Challow Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) | 2m4½f | 4yo+ | ITV/RTV

Philip Hobbs hasn’t had a runner in the Betway Challow Novices' Hurdle since he won it with Fingal Bay in 2011 but the Somerset-based trainer has the standout candidate in this year’s contest in Thyme Hill.

The five-year-old has strong claims as the best novice hurdler in Britain following two impressive victories in Grade 2s at Chepstow and Cheltenham this season and his jumping has improved each time.

He achieved a Racing Post Rating of 149 when winning at Cheltenham and that figure would have been good enough to win six of the last ten runnings of this race.

Solid Thyme Hill form

Thyme Hill’s only defeats have come at the hands of Master Debonair and Envoi Allen and that’s a measure of the market leader’s ability.

Master Debonair defied a 3lb penalty when landing the Grade 2 Kennel Gate at Ascot last week and Envoi Allen has since won the Grade 1 Royal Bond at Fairyhouse.

Even Abacadabras, who was fourth behind Thyme Hill (third) in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival last year, franked the form when landing the Grade 1 novice hurdle at Leopardstown yesterday, so you’ll struggle to find a novice in Britain with stronger form.

Winter warmer

The Grade 2 Winter Novices’ Hurdle run on the Friday of Sandown’s Tingle Creek meeting has proved a good guide in the last ten years. Fingal Bay (2011) and Taquin Du Seuil (2012) and Messire Des Obeaux (2016) all won that race en route to victory here and Vyta Du Roc finished second in the 2014 running of this after being successful in that Sandown contest.

This year’s Winter Hurdle winner Enrilo ran to an RPR of 142 when successful at the Esher venue and that’s a similar figure to that achieved by Taquin Du Seuil (142) and Messire Des Obeaux (143) before they won this Grade 1. He has 7lb to find with Thyme Hill though.

Henderson’s handicap route

Nicky Henderson won this last year with Champ and he saddles The Cashel Man, who landed the same 0-150 handicap hurdle which was also won by Champ last season at last month’s fixture.

Champ achieved an RPR of 150 when successful in that handicap and The Cashel Man recorded 147 this year. That is the same rating achieved by Champ when he won this race last season.
Graeme Rodway

What they say

Emma Lavelle, trainer of Eclair Surf
He's a lovely big horse who's a chaser of the future – but he's done nothing wrong so far. I was very pleased with him at Exeter and he's come on a lot for that run. He's had a great prep for this race so it's just a case of if he's good enough. Some of these might just be a little bit sharper but he deserves to go for it.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Enrilo
He won the Grade 2 at Sandown the other day quite nicely. He had a tough enough race that day but he's appeared to have come out of it quite well. It's a good race, and a Grade 1, but he seems to keep improving again and I'd like to think he'd run tidy. The ground will be no problem.

The Cashel Man: an impressive winner at Newbury last timeCredit: Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

Nicky Henderson, trainer of The Cashel Man
He's done nothing wrong, he was very impressive there the other day. He's got a fair bit of experience as he's been around for a fair few years on the Flat before he came to us. He enjoys his jumping. Last season I was really annoyed as he should've won a race at Kempton – he threw it away on the run-in – and he was beaten by Reserve Tank which turned out to be a really good performance. We've put some blinkers on and they've helped. He's got to step up now but we'll see where we are. I'm not quite sure about the ground, he's big and strong but he's not a National Hunt [bred] horse. He's by High Chaparral who does get good jumpers, I have another of his who's quite good, Altior.

Philip Hobbs, trainer of Thyme Hill
He's been in good form since his win at Cheltenham and this has always been the aim. Soft ground isn't an issue for him, it suits him well, so hopefully everything should be in his favour. His form has been very good so far, let's hope he can continue to develop on an upward curve.

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